


The Devil You Know and the Devil Inside

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Drama, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-27
Updated: 2015-08-27
Packaged: 2018-04-17 11:56:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4665672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They were going in different directions for the first time in a long time but that wasn’t such a bad thing.  Now Dave was wondering just how much he had missed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Devil You Know and the Devil Inside

**Author's Note:**

> I haven’t been able to write in some time. This story has been in the back of my head for that long and the clouds have finally cleared. I always liked to write Gideon and Rossi as friends, long before the canon writers decided that was convenient for them. Something like what happens in this fic feels very organic to me and I hope it does to the reader as well.

It was an unknown number and he rarely answered those calls. Everyone wanted a piece of him; sometimes Dave got tired of giving. He'd never been the generous type in the first place. This was even less so when he was researching and writing. The tenth anniversary publishing of his first book was coming up quick. Kirk Douglas had agreed to write the foreword, which was a very big deal. 

Dave was working on cleaning up chapters and finishing stories. His first foray into writing had been very successful; millions of fans followed. It went to #3 on the New York Times Bestseller List and the name David Rossi was on the map. After that there were sold out book tours, exclusive interviews, and a third marriage. There were more books, more fans, and more attention. A decade of decadence followed though Dave had done worse things in his youth. 

This was the decadence of champagne wishes and caviar dreams. This was The Hamptons, St. Bart’s, Aspen, and supermodel threesomes. This was partying with everyone from Dustin Hoffman to Diddy. He'd be lying if he said he hadn’t enjoyed damn near every minute of it. But that life couldn’t go on forever. Dave retreated to his Fairfax, Virginia mansion nearly a year ago to write a new book. 

So far he had a whole lot of nothing. There was no pressure from the publishers, yet, but it was coming. Dave knew they wanted more than the usual reheated crime stories from a former great. That’s why on an almost chilly, late September evening, he answered a call from an unknown number. What could be worse than what he was already going through?

“This is Rossi. Hello? Hello, this is David Rossi.”

“Dave?”

“Yes. Hello?”

“Dave?”

“Who is this; I can barely hear you?”

The response was cracked and garbled. Dave would’ve thought it was someone being a wiseass if the person hadn’t said his name. Of course he said his own name first so…

“Hello.” This was the caller’s last chance.

“Dave, its Jason.”

“Who?”

“It’s Jason, Jason Gideon.”

“Jason?”

“Yes, can you hear me? I'm actually in the middle of nowhere and there are few cell towers. My connections have been spotty.”

“Who are you chasing this week, old friend? Hello?”

“I left the BAU.”

“You what?”

“You still can't hear me?” Jason asked.

“It sounded like you said you left the BAU.” Dave replied. “I know that’s not true because if it were we would be sharing a 1990 scotch and talking about that collaborative history we were going to write.”

“I know you’ve seen the news, Dave.”

“Are we talking about tonight or…?”

“Erin Strauss is going to destroy all that we worked so hard to build. She may actually have the full weight of the Bureau behind her this time.”

“She wouldn’t do that.” Dave shook his head. “Erin used to be one of us, damn good as a matter of fact.”

“She's not the same person she used to be. She's a bureaucrat now, damn good at it just as she was with everything else.”

“Jason, Erin is Kirk’s protégé. I knew she chose the red tape route, I tried to talk her out of it, but…”

“So much has changed.” Jason said. “You have no idea how much.”

“What can I do?”

The truth was that Dave hadn’t talked to Jason in nearly six years. Both of their lives got even busier after Dave retired. They were going in different directions for the first time in a long time but that wasn’t such a bad thing. Now Dave was wondering just how much he had missed. He could only grasp bits and pieces, fragments of information, on the man he once called his closest friend. Dave saw what happened in Boston on the news nearly three years ago. 

He never visited Jason, though he kept telling himself that he would. A get well card was as far as he had gotten. It was Aaron Hotchner who let him know that Jason was returning to the BAU but giving up his job as Unit Chief. He would stay on as a Senior Supervisory Special Agent; an advisor. It was a good role for the longtime agent and analyst. The last Dave heard things were going as they always did.

“I need you to go back.” Jason replied. “I need you to make sure that what we built isn't destroyed.”

“That sounds like the job of more than one man.”

“Aaron is there, and he wants to fight for it as well.”

“Tell me what happened.”

“We let a lot of things slide. Our jobs are not always conducive with following the Bureau’s rigid rules. Aaron and I just wanted to do the job and protect our team. I should’ve done a lot of things differently. I should’ve never returned.”

“Boston…” Dave stopped. He almost said Boston wasn’t Jason’s fault. How many times had Jason probably heard that? It was a split second decision that cost six agents their lives. In their line of work, the leader fell on the sword. Jason had been the leader for a long time. “Jason, you were damn good at the job. Anyone who says differently can kiss my ass.”

“I can't go back; I've resigned. I need you to put the pieces back together. The BAU needs you.”

“That’s not my life anymore.” 

“I'm not capable of begging right now.” Jason said.

“I would never ask you to. What are you not telling me?”

“I need to go now, I think I'm going to lose reception again. There is a storm heading this way.”

“Where are you, Jason?”

“Look up Frank Breitkopf, Dave, and call the one person you always get the truth from.”

“Just tell me you're alright.” Dave said. “I know how it can be when the darkness comes for you. Tell me you're not going to hurt yourself. Tell me Jason.”

“I'm going to visit my mother.”

“What the hell does that mean? Your mother’s been dead since you were in your 30s. Jason, Jason now is not the time to be cryptic with me. I swear, if you harm yourself I'm going to bring you back to life and beat the hell out of you.”

“I got a dog, Dave. Does a man who's thinking about suicide get a dog?”

“What kind of dog?” Dave asked.

“He's a retriever of some kind…someone abandoned the poor fellow. I'm taking care of him now. I'm not going to harm myself; I'm going to visit my mother. Can you just try to do what I asked?”

“I can try. I should’ve been a better friend.”

“You're not perfect and neither am I. But we built something good together and we have to take care of it. You left it in my capable hands a decade ago but I can't do it anymore.”

“If you need anything, you better call me.” Dave said. “Please.”

“I gotta go. I have faith in you as I always have.”

“Take care of yourself, Jason.”

Dave didn’t know how long he held the cell phone in his hand after Jason hung up. He had no idea what was happening or why. Being wrapped up in his own affairs was insane enough; it had been a long time since BAU news filtered through the radar. He'd accidentally or purposely lost touch with a lot of people from that life. He'd get a call if someone wanted a favor or entrée into a place they had no business getting into. 

Dave ignored most of those calls. Jason never asked him for a damn thing. They had been friends since the Academy and he never asked him for a favor worth mentioning. Now here he was asking; and it was a big one. That meant something. 

Sighing, Dave got up and poured himself a glass of scotch. He went into the desk drawer and pulled out a cigar. After clipping the top, Dave lit it. He was still holding his phone, still looking at it and wondering where he should even begin. The one person he could always get the truth from was a good start. Dave just hoped his number was in this cell phone.

“This is Douglas.” He answered.

“It’s Dave.”

“Dave who?”

“C'mon, seriously?”

“You’d be shocked by how many people I actually know named Dave. I don’t think you’d be shocked by all the people who act like they know me and somehow get this number. Is this about the foreword, because it'd probably be better to go through my office manager for that?”

“This is about the BAU. I hear your cub’s claws are sharper than ever.” Dave said.

“I hope you didn’t call me thinking that I'm going to play that game. You know me better than that, Dave.”

“What in the hell is going on?”

“That’s really none of your business. The Bureau doesn’t report to you.”

“I want to come back. I want you to help me do it.”

“That writer’s block must really be kicking you in the gonads.” Kirk said.

“Kirk…”

“Dave, I don’t know what you're doing but returning to active field work is not something to do without a lot of thought. You're not as young as you used to be.”

“I have no problem passing any test that the Bureau feels the need to give me. I can handle anything thy throw at me, just be fair.”

“And how are you going to contend with the fact that agents cannot make money from what has been your bread and butter for a decade?” Kirk asked.

“There are loopholes.” Dave replied.

“Ahh, you want me to do you a favor.”

“I want to come back, Kirk. The BAU means everything to me and I'm not going to let it crumble. I know that Jason has resigned. I don’t know all of the circumstances behind it but I can help. It’s not forever; just for a little while.”

“I’ll do you this favor.” Kirk said sighing. “I’ll work the loopholes but the tests are all on you. Also, if you think you're going to come back and push against the system like you used to…that’s not going to happen. Erin isn't going to put up with it and neither am I.”

“You don’t have much faith in me, do you?”

“I have complete faith in you, that’s why I at least gave you a warning. Things haven’t been good lately and you can get a version of that story from about 100 sides at the moment. The Bureau, and I, want to get the BAU back on track. You can help do that or you can be a thorn in our side. This isn't the movies Dave, no one has time for the ‘fuck the rules’ protagonist.”

“I'm not going to make waves.” Dave said.

“Come down to DC on Friday.” Kirk said, barely believing him. “I’ll take care of it.”

“I owe you.”

“Yes, you do. And remember that lions kill if necessary to protect their cubs. It’s the law of nature.”

“I thought that was lionesses.”

“Goodnight, Dave.”

“Goodnight Kirk, and thanks.”

Dave hung up the phone and put it on the coffee table in front of him. He couldn’t even call Jason back. He couldn’t tell him that he wasn’t going to let him down this time; that he was going to fix it. The words ‘I'm going to visit my mother’ wouldn’t leave his head. He wondered if anyone knew where Jason was. 

His mother was buried somewhere in the suburbs of Philadelphia…he didn’t remember the town she was born in. Wherever it was wasn’t a place with lousy cell phone service. Maybe he was at his cabin. Dave knew when he was in the mountains calls could get sketchy. He didn’t even want to talk on the phone when he was up there. 

There was a chance that she knew where Jason was, a small chance but it was possible. Her number wasn’t in his phone because they'd stopped communicating too many years ago to count. It was most likely Dave’s fault but since he couldn’t remember exactly he didn’t plan to take the blame. Calling her now would be a bad idea anyway. If she got to Kirk before he helped out Dave this might all be over before it started. And surely if he got her on the phone one of two things would happen. He would gloat or she would be suspicious, both were a bad idea. 

He would just stay put for the moment. There wasn’t a chance in hell he could write or research anything right now…his mind buzzed like electrical currents. Nothing was going to be the same after this. He didn’t even know everything that was happening but he definitely knew that.

***


End file.
